1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a guide wheel. More particularly, the invention relates to a guide wheel having a bearing that is suited for food and beverage applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Guide wheels are used in the food and beverage industry. However, the service life of guide wheels is often cut short by a loss of bearing lubrication. Many times during the assembly line cleaning process, high pressure water with detergents is used to clean debris and sanitize the equipment. The high temperature blast of liquid pushes the bearing lubrication out of the guide wheel.
For example, machine builder PES Limited has created a new, eight axis (four axis horizontal, four axis vertical) poultry cutter machine. A chicken breast (meat and ribs) travels on a conveyor line and it is optically scanned by a camera. The digital image is mathematically scaled and a computer program determines the ultimate cutting pattern. A water jet cutter cuts the chicken breast to yield the highest volume of meat in various types of chicken meat cuts, such as boneless breast, nuggets, and strips. To meet the FDA sanitary requirements, caustic water solution under high pressure is used to clean the machine. The guide wheels are directly sprayed with the high pressure water solution which penetrates the current guide wheel bearing seals. The typical guide wheel life is six to twelve weeks.
It would be advantageous to provide a wheel design that eliminates direct liquid pressure on the seal, thus retaining the lubrication, such that bearing life is extended.